6 Swipe Dating Apps: Tinder, Bumble, & More

When Tinder launched in 2012, it revolutionized online dating with a simple innovation: swipe right for yes, swipe left for no. Soon after a number of companies spawned clones attempting to copy Tinder’s formula and replicate its success. Now in 2018, there are countless swipe dating apps out there. But what apps are worth your time?

Here’s a list of six of the best swipe dating apps and what makes them different to help you find the app (or apps) to swipe right on.

TinderTinder, of course, is the big daddy of them all. It was the first swipe dating app on the market and is still the one to beat. On Tinder, daters swipe through a feed of profiles. When two daters swipe right on each other they match and messaging begins. Swipe left and you won’t see that person again. That’s basically it. It’s very simple and dater friendly. It also has one other big benefit—everyone’s on it. Oh yeah, and it’s free.

Nowadays, Tinder has a couple fun extra features to add to the swiping experience. Daters can link Instagram and Spotify accounts to add more photos or share music tastes, but beyond that the app is still a what you see is what you get experience.

BumbleTinder co-founder Whitney Wolfe Herd created Bumble after departing Tinder. Bumble is very similar to Tinder with one chief difference—women come first. In opposite sex matches, the woman has to message first. (In same-sex matches, anyone can message first.) This interaction was created help reduce the amount of incoming harassment and spam messages women receive on other apps like Tinder. (A problem that has become so bad it’s spawned popular social media accounts dedicated to exposing (and laughing at) the problem.

OkCupidThis one is sort of a weird selection for a swipe dating app, because OkCupid didn’t even have swiping till very recently. OkCupid is one of the older dating apps and recently underwent a rebrand and modernized the app (i.e. added swiping). The app is a bit older, so it functions a bit differently than the newer apps out there.

Each profile has a compatibility rating that OkCupid generates based on hundreds of attitudinal survey questions that you can answer at your leisure. Also, unlike other swiping apps OkCupid has a search function that allows you to find other profiles based on a number of different criteria.

BadooBadoo is an extremely popular international social media app that’s focused on dating. There are a few different options for searching for people including a live streaming service, but the primary focus is on swiping. Badoo’s big draw is its international popularity. Badoo operates in 190 countries, is available in 47 different languages, and in 2016 was the most downloaded app in 21 countries.

TastebudsTastebuds is a cool little social media and dating site that revolves around your music taste. You select artists and songs that fit your fancy and other singles do the same. You spend your time swiping through a feed of other singles with their photos and music selection on display up front. If you like their taste, swipe right. (Don’t worry, you can still write a bio about yourself.)

JSwipeJSwipe is a swipe dating app, yep, you guessed it for Jewish people. Well, it’s also for non-Jewish people looking for a Jewish partner. It’s pretty standard as far as normal swiping format goes. When you match with another person, “Mazel Tov” you can start chatting.

So, there you have it. These are the best swipe dating apps out there. Whether you choose to swipe right or left on any or all of these, remember dating is about getting out there, so get swiping and get out there.

Alex Bocknek is the senior editor of The Date Mix and works at Zoosk, the online dating service. He’s also a recovering music critic and an aspiring fiction writer (probably lost) on the way to an independent bookstore near you. He can be found occasionally musing about politics, philosophy, and love in the modern world.